SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A scientist who helped SUNY Upstate Medical University get its long-delayed cord blood bank off the ground was banned from the facility 10 months after it opened.

The departure of Nicholas J. Greco as executive director of the cord blood bank is revealed in a secret agreement. It says Greco was the subject of a “disciplinary interrogation” by Upstate, but does not explain why.

The agreement shows he left his position Dec. 21, 2017 and was given a paid six-month off campus assignment until his employment at Upstate ended June 21, 2018.

The $15 million cord blood bank opened in February, 2017 on Upstate’s Community General campus on Onondaga Hill. Cord blood is left behind in a baby’s umbilical cord after it has been cut. The blood is rich in stem cells that can be used to treat cancer, sickle cell anemia and other diseases. The bank seeks donations from women after they give birth.

Greco declined to comment on the matter. The United University Professions union represented Greco in settlement discussions with Upstate. The union refused to comment on the agreement. Upstate also refused to answer questions about Greco’s departure.

Upstate continued paying Greco during the off-campus assignment. His annual salary at Upstate was $137,419 in 2017. His off-campus assignment was to prepare a strategic plan for the cord blood bank and job description for his successor.

During his off-campus assignment, Greco submitted dozens of detailed documents outlining job descriptions for his position, technical information about running a cord blood bank and accreditation requirements. The contents of some of Greco’s emails and documents were partly or entirely blacked out by Upstate.

Upstate never replaced Greco. Instead it delegated his responsibilities to other people on the cord blood bank’s staff.

Two days before his off-campus assignment ended, Greco said in an email to Dr. Robert Corona, CEO of Upstate University Hospital:

“The pinnacle of my career was to serve as executive director of the Upstate Cord Blood Bank and for this, I shall not forget my experience in Syracuse.”

Syracuse.com obtained a copy of the non-disclosure agreement and related documents through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Private-sector employers often provide severance pay to employees who are laid-off or offered buyouts, but SUNY and other state agencies are prohibited from using taxpayer money to do so.

Dr. Mantosh Dewan, Upstate’s interim president, said last week officials at Upstate and SUNY Albany are scrutinizing off-campus assignments at Upstate and may recommend changes in the way they are used.

In each case reviewed by Syracuse.com, employees offered these deals were banned from working on Upstate property. During Greco’s off-campus assignment he had “no legitimate employment purpose to be on Upstate property,” his agreement says.

Of the eight Upstate off-campus assignments agreements Syracuse.com has obtained, Greco’s is the only one that says it involved a disciplinary issue.

The agreement says the deal is not “an admission of wrongdoing, liability, fault or misconduct of any kind by any party.”

Greco, who helped develop a cord blood bank in Cleveland, joined Upstate in 2014 to jump-start its stalled cord blood bank program.

Upstate started building the facility in 2012, but stopped work after deciding the design was overly elaborate and would be too costly to operate. Greco scaled back some aspects of the state-funded $15 million project that was championed by recently retired Sen. John DeFrancisco who helped get the state money. DeFrancisco declined to comment on Greco’s departure.

Like other Upstate employees who got these deals, Greco had to quit his job at the end of the off-campus assignment, promise to never sue Upstate and keep the arrangement secret.

The use of non-disclosure agreements by government agencies subject to freedom of information laws is controversial.

After Syracuse.com revealed the practice at Upstate, DeFrancisco introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would ban state and local government agencies in New York from using non-disclosure agreements.

SUNY Upstate refused to disclose why Nicholas Greco was the subject of a disciplinary interrogation. If you know why, contact James T. Mulder at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com